"We're really pleased to be able to bring these moments to customers, but it never replaces having a fundamentally great shopping experience every time that you shop at Woolies," chief executive Amanda Bardwell told reporters on Wednesday.
"And that's what we're focused on first and foremost."
Still, Woolworths' Ooshie campaign, which gave shoppers a squishy rubber figure for each $30 spent, helped drive sales and bring in new customers when it ran from mid-July to early August.
In the first eight weeks since the supermarket chain's financial year ended on June 28, Woolworths' total Australian food sales lifted by 7.6 per cent, with the Ooshies campaign contributing 1.5 to two points worth of that total.
The promotion both brought in new customers and led to existing customers buying more items to score more Ooshies, according to the company.
For 2025/26, Woolworths made a net profit of $1.1 billion, up 18 per cent from the $983 million it made the year before.
Woolworths' underlying earnings - before interest and tax - jumped 12.7 per cent to $3.1 billion on sales of $71.5 billion, an increase of 3.6 per cent in the year ended June 28.
Australian supermarket sales accelerated in the second half, rising by 5.7 per cent, for a full-year gain of 4.6 per cent to $53.9 billion.
That's better than Coles, whose supermarket sales rose by 3.7 per cent to $41.5 billion.
Woolworths also beat analysts' consensus expectations, said RBC Capital Markets analyst Michael Toner.
Its group earnings were better than expected, as were its Australian supermarket sales in the fourth quarter and in the first eight weeks of the current financial year, Mr Toner said.
But the New Zealand supermarket operation and the business unit that consists of Big W and Petstock delivered disappointing results.
Same-store sales fell 1.9 per cent at Big W, suggesting there was more work to be done on the retail chain's transformation.
Overall, the results should be pleasing for investors, said eToro lead APAC analyst Josh Gilbert, who noted that the final dividend of 52 cents announced on Wednesday was a 15.6 per cent increase from a year ago.
"Woolworths might not be the most exciting name on the ASX, but this is what a supermarket recovery looks like," he said, adding that the Ooshies campaign was a huge win to carry momentum into the current financial year.
"The challenge is keeping those shoppers now that the toys have left the checkout."
After midday, Woolworths shares were changing hands at $38.68, after falling back from an early gain of 3.9 per cent to $40.40. The stock is still up 37.44 per cent year-to-date.
